Advice re should we keep car or not

[Chugs93]

To summarise a long story, DH & I purchased a car last year which was extremely rushed. We were without a car as our old one was extremely old and cambelt had snapped, but we were also moving house at the time.

We ended up getting (I bought without DH present) a car for £12,000.00 on bank loan which has £10,500 approx left to pay, £250.00 a month.

I am 50/50 on whether to keep the car or trade in. Our plan with cars is pretty much to buy on bank loan, pay off and then keep the car for as long as possible however with this car I'm just not keen on keeping it long long term. I've had it for a good 10 months now, and still struggle with hill starts (?!) and feel I would get on much better in an automatic.

I have done a rough calc on cinch or we buy any car and the results vary but at around the £7500 mark - meaning we would basically be losing £3000 if we traded it in ? (£10,500 - £7500) ? I don't know if that loss is worth it or if I should just suck it up and keep the car until the loan is gone at least?

WWYD in my situation?

I'd learn to do hill starts.

@Tumbler2121 Thanks, In our previous car it was fine but I just struggle in this one - I think its the hill start assist I dont quite get on with.

Persevere and practice hill starts. Doesn't sound like you've got money to throw away, as most of us don't! So don't.

I would advise the same.

When I moved to a car with a button handbrake I struggled with hill starts. Given I live in a VERY hilly area this was a bit of a challenge. Anyone who still has a traditional handbrake won't really understand.

However, after a few years it's OK as long as I don't think about it! I've had a car with hill start assist for a few weeks now and I'm still not quite clear about what it's doing for me. I know it's giving me a few more seconds but sometimes that feels like more of hindrance. I do tend to rely a bit more on clutch control these days.

• I think it's the hill start assist I dont quite get on with.

If it has assist you literally don't need to do anything to move off in a hill that you don't do when moving off on the flat.

I would practice that before I lost that amount of money.

@ForPearlViper I am glad I'm not alone!
I too feel like the hill start assist is a bit of a hindrance - for many times I'm sat there ready to go, and the car is stopped for a few seconds "assisting" - I suppose!

I think for me it's not just the hills, but because we were rushed etc it just doesnt feel like 100% the car for me but I get what everyone is saying, I know deep down its alot of money to lose! I will perservere

I thought you would say you were going from a car with hill start assist to one without!
I've just gone the other way and have had to brush up on my hill starts.

@MagpiePi
No surprisingly I was absolutely fine before, hill starts were no issue in our 2008 previous car - no hill start assist and manual handbrake!
Whereas now with a button handbrake and hill start assist I can do it, but just find I use the accelerator way too much, or the car takes a moment to move off and I'm just sat waiting.

Yesterday I tried to use the button handbrake, I wont be doing that again - ended up not moving whilst burning the clutch?!

I know your pain as I sometimes drive a car with a manual handbrake and can't understand why it's not moving. A colleague of mine got his first button handbrake and managed to drive into his garage door on his first day

OP there's no harm in looking at the alternatives. Take a look at the Motorpoint website. They also give a trade in estimate which they just take from Parkers, which is the industry standard re used car prices. They're a good place to browse a lot of cars with plenty of filters.

Cinch and We Buy Any Car don’t give you market value for your vehicle because they build in their own profit margins. What would you sell it for privately? Check Autotrader. If you’ve only had it ten months, not put significant mileage on it, and can give it a 12 month clean MOT before selling, I’d be surprised if you’d lose a huge amount.

Or just google Parkers. Most people/companies selling cars use them as a base point for a valuation but you can get one direct yourself.